Ezidi youth dies in IED explosion after visiting his house in Shingal: Official

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A Yezidi (Ezidi) teenager died after visiting his house in Sinjar (Shingal), where a hidden Improvised Explosive Device (IED) detonated, a local official confirmed on Monday.

The explosion took place in the village of Hayal, located in the town of Gir Ozair, south of Shingal.

The teenager was caught in the blast and sustained severe injuries. He was transferred to Shingal hospital, where he died of his wounds almost eight hours later, Shakir Khudeda, the newly-appointed by Baghdad Director of Gir Ozair, told Kurdistan 24.

The young boy was named Hajji Abdullah Ilyas, a senior student in high school.

The Islamic State (IS) occupied Shingal in Aug. 2014 and planted IEDs across the city to ensure its destructive legacy would continue beyond the group’s control of the territory. Kurdish Peshmerga forces, with the support of the US-led coalition, liberated the area in Nov. 2015.

More than 80 percent of Shingal was destroyed during clashes with IS, and due to coalition airstrikes targeting jihadist bases. Almost three years after the liberation of the city, Shingal remains in rubble, with many areas yet to be cleared from IS-planted explosive devices.

Since the liberation of the city, 27 people have died in cases similar to Ilyas, Khudeda explained.

Most displaced people from Shingal refuse to return to the city and remain in camps in the Kurdistan Region for security reasons, adding that the lack of public services and adequate housing make it nearly impossible for them to return home.

Editing by Nadia Riva

(Additional reporting by Mahir Shingali)